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What is the story about?
The world map may soon look different. The United Nations General Assembly has voted to replace the traditional world map with a version that reflects the size of Africa more accurately.
Sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, the ‘Correct the Map’ resolution was passed with the support of 164 countries. There were six abstentions, the BBC reported. The United States was the only nation to vote against the resolution.
The resolution is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used globally. France, which co-sponsored the resolution supporting the new map, announced on Friday that it would abandon the older projection.
New world map approved
The new map, called the Equal Earth cartographic projection, improves "the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world," according to the resolution.
It asks nations to use the new map instead of the traditional Mercator projection, which has been in common use since the 16th century.
Created by cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, the map has been criticised for showingAfrica as almost the same size as Greenland, even though it is 14 times bigger.
The Mercator map shows the Earth’s curvature by making countries close to the equator seem smaller than they are. Nations nearer the poles appear larger.
Critics claim the distortion leads to the development needs of countries near the equator to be minimised.
The Equal Earth projection was launched by a group of cartographers in 2018. It makes Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and Oceania appear much larger.
It was adopted by the AU member states in February this year as the projection "more accurately represents the sizes of all continents, particularly Africa."
US slams vote
US representative Yaryna Ferencevych had questioned the resolution, adding that such moves were why the UN was “losing its credibility," as per AFP. "Instead of focusing on genuine problems... this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice," Ferencevych said ahead of the vote.
The US had also slammed the UN in March when a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity" was adopted.
Sponsored by Togo and backed by African Union (AU) members, the ‘Correct the Map’ resolution was passed with the support of 164 countries. There were six abstentions, the BBC reported. The United States was the only nation to vote against the resolution.
The resolution is non-binding but will see changes to the maps used globally. France, which co-sponsored the resolution supporting the new map, announced on Friday that it would abandon the older projection.
New world map approved
The new map, called the Equal Earth cartographic projection, improves "the accuracy of the cartographic representation of the world," according to the resolution.
It asks nations to use the new map instead of the traditional Mercator projection, which has been in common use since the 16th century.
Created by cartographer Gerardus Mercator in 1569, the map has been criticised for showingAfrica as almost the same size as Greenland, even though it is 14 times bigger.
The Mercator map shows the Earth’s curvature by making countries close to the equator seem smaller than they are. Nations nearer the poles appear larger.
Critics claim the distortion leads to the development needs of countries near the equator to be minimised.
The Equal Earth projection was launched by a group of cartographers in 2018. It makes Africa, South Asia, Latin America, and Oceania appear much larger.
It was adopted by the AU member states in February this year as the projection "more accurately represents the sizes of all continents, particularly Africa."
US slams vote
US representative Yaryna Ferencevych had questioned the resolution, adding that such moves were why the UN was “losing its credibility," as per AFP. "Instead of focusing on genuine problems... this body is debating map projects from the 16th century and their role in promoting reparations and cognitive justice," Ferencevych said ahead of the vote.
The US had also slammed the UN in March when a resolution declaring the transatlantic slave trade "the gravest crime against humanity" was adopted.
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